5 Wrestling gimmicks that were inspired by somebody else
Sometimes a wrestler's gimmick is so synonymous with a person, it's hard to see that gimmick belonging to anyone else, or that wrestler having used any other gimmick during their career.
However, it's incredibly rare that a wrestler will use a single gimmick throughout their entire career. It's amazing to think how some stars got their starts in the WWE by borrowing the gimmick of another wrestler, especially during the Monday Night Wars.
A notable example of this was after Diesel and Razor Ramon crossed from Vince McMahon's WWF to Ted Turner's WCW programming, the WWF announced that the two would still be appearing on Monday Night Raw. Nash and Hall were perplexed, and WCW was panicking.
Nevertheless, when Monday Night rolled around, Diesel and Ramon did indeed appear on Monday Night Raw, but they weren't being portrayed by Kevin Nash and Scott Hall. Instead, Diesel and Hall were played by Glenn Jacobs and Rick Bognar respectively. The crowd immediately saw through the bait and switch that the WWF was trying to play and reacted negatively.
Of course, Glenn Jacobs was later successfully re-packaged as the Undertaker's Half-Brother Kane, the gimmick in which Jacobs found ongoing success and in which he continues to wrestle under today. However, the gimmick killed Bognar's career, and after his one-year contract expired he left the WWF, before retiring a few years later. Needless to say, it is very difficult to succeed in wrestling when you are copying someone else. Ironically enough Glenn Jacob's Kane was also involved in a story-line with someone appearing as the original iteration of the character after it was feared that Jacobs would be retiring from wrestling.
This list is about 5 wrestlers that either used a gimmick that was inspired by another wrestler or wrestlers that were given gimmicks that were originally meant for a different person.
# 5 Superstar Billy Graham / Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan is one of the most iconic wrestlers of all time. Synonymous with the Rock n Wrestling era, the Hulkster was the first wrestler who managed to turn himself into a mainstream name. Hogan was a 6 time World Champion in both WWF and WCW, as well as headlining shows for TNA and NJPW. Hogan would also be immortalized in the WWE Hall of Fame, headlining the Class of 2005.
Hogan's iconic look was inspired by "Superstar" Billy Graham, with his bleach blonde hair and incredible physique, Graham epitomized what Hogan would become as a wrestler. It was actually Graham that Hogan had called to get his first wrestling gigs outside of Florida and it was Graham that got Hogan set up with a promotion in Alabama.
Just one look at the two men will realize how much of Graham's look Hogan adopted into his own personal wrestling style.